It's a beautiful, crisp, sunny day in London. I've spent most of it busy composing/recording/writing on a computer in the relative dark of my 'studio'. The phrase 'live the life monastic' crops into mind - creatives are prone to this sort of behaviour.
Fortunately, my partner P gets me out and about (as well as my studies which are - including my sons - also responsible for keeping me 'au courant' with contemporary music practice/youthful viewpoints) along with the Rick&Morty animated TV series with it's fine, ferocious political/social commentary!
File under life lessons 'Self-awareness' - must re-sit!!!
'A tendency to layer sounds/musical ideas far beyond the point of any particular benefit.'
Taking another direction, the tendency mentioned above has been an achilles heel for much of my working life - and as my working life takes up most of my time/energy, it's rather important to me. I usually know when I've gone beyond the needs of a particular arrangement (it's no longer fun, I start finding it difficult to blend everything and I feel discouraged) but have great trouble stopping the process.
Recently, I've realised that new tracks - created from unnecessary additions to existing arrangements - is a positive move, a good direction to go in. Perfectionism born out of insecurity fuels this artistic 'glitch' in my workflow but I now view it as an indicator. An indicator that I've finished one piece and sub-consciously already started another. No waste here.
Instead of erasing the extraneous, I paste the 'extraneous' into new music projects, as themes/ideas that stand on their own. So far it seems to be working.
I'll keep you posted! D